Kung Fu Soccer marks Stephen Chow’s return as director to a martial arts fused football sports-universe where the most unimaginable things happen. It was Kung Fu Soccer, back in 2001, that brought Chow to international success and became an instant classic, then being followed by the epic and well-loved Kung Fu Hustle.
The film opens following the journey of the football team Emei, made up of female martial artists who use and harness their skills to defeat rival teams. Also with the team is a Ziba (Sisley Choi), blind masseuse and physiotherapist who motivates the team with a wardrobe and quotes inspred by Bruce Lee. We follow they team as they encounter various matches and face struggles from their rivals and must also resolve their own issues. They also face their funding being stopped and having their weaknesses exposed for their opponents to exploit. What follows is a roller-coaster journey of matches where the teams all have casual superpowers that defy physics.
One of the flaws the film has may be the visual effects for not being convincing by Hollywood standards. However that adds to the charm of the film and makes it even more comical. There are many funny moments in the film, and one scene being hilarious and gross at the same time. As usual with Stephen Chow directed films, there are plenty of Bruce Lee references. The cast are all great and there are a few cameos from MC Jin and Jimmy O. Yang. The leading actresses Xiaofei Zhang and Dilraba Dilmurat play Shuangshuang, the team’s captain and star striker Yu Long and are full of charisma. Carina Lau adds gravitas to the film as the team’s Grandmaster.
Kung-fu Soccer serves are a great welcome back to Stephen Chow and hopefully we will see more films like this.
